Everybody who is proud of our local economy should see that this is great news for Mankato. Not only will this redevelopment project provide more housing and commercial space, the project is expected to create a number of new jobs, retain several existing jobs, and increase our tax base by $26,500.

The amount of requests made by local school officials suggests that state lawmakers ought to take a harder look at this issue when we return to the Capitol in January for a new legislative session. Students, their parents, and local school officials should be at the forefront of that conversation.

Giving everyone the opportunity to “buy in” to MinnesotaCare and creating new, more targeted state tax credits to help people rather than insurance companies are some of the options I will bring to the table during next year’s legislative session.

When applications for school safety improvements outnumber by ten-fold the amount of funding lawmakers provided, it shows that we as a state are falling far short of meeting needs communicated by our local school officials.